Chapter Nine: The King's Man

The Imperial Palace.

Inside the Zichen Palace. Yesterday, it was the noble young master Zhang Songzhi who served the Empress in bed. They indulged in pleasure for a long time, and when their passion reached its peak, the Empress got up a little later than usual.

"Rong Jiulang is here to help His Majesty change his clothes..." Beside the carved canopy bed, Zhang Songzhi, dressed in white, had no hair ornaments. His outer robe was loosely draped over his shoulders, and the wide sleeves hung down casually. He was handsome but also had a touch of laziness and unruliness.

The Empress rose leisurely, gazing at the man before her with a tender expression, a hint of a smile appearing in her eyes: "Very well, then I'll trouble you today, Jiulang. Hua Wan, you may now withdraw..."

“Yes…” Hua Wan, the female official who had been waiting quietly to the side, quickly raised her eyes and glanced at the focused young master. Without revealing her expression, she led her maids away.

He laid out each of the empress's court robes, one by one, and carefully helped her put them on, smoothing out the wrinkles and arranging the tassels. Then, he took the empress's hand and led her to sit in front of a carved and inlaid bronze mirror. His slender fingers gently ran through the empress's beautiful hair, his fingers flying nimbly.

"I heard that the heir of the Prince of Ruyang entered the palace yesterday..." As he helped the Empress put on a tortoiseshell hairpin and served her as she admired herself in the mirror, the man's voice seemed to ring out unintentionally.

The Empress raised her eyes to look at the man in the bronze mirror, a gentle smile on her face: "What? Is Jiulang worried?"

The man's long, slender fingers grasped the Empress's, and he slowly sat down, sighing, "It's not that I'm worried, Your Majesty should know Jiulang's heart. Jiulang is just feeling sorry for Your Majesty..."

Everyone knows that the Empress ascended the throne as the legitimate Crown Princess, and since then, she has worked tirelessly day and night, devoting herself wholeheartedly to bring about the prosperous Qian Yuan era of the Daxing Dynasty. For the first ten years or so, the Empress was busy with state affairs, neither establishing an Empress nor having any children. Now, with peace and tranquility throughout the land, there is no successor in the court, so the princes are starting to stir, especially the Prince of Ruyang.

Prince Ruyang is the younger brother of Princess Danyang and the uncle of the current Empress. Now that the Empress has no children, Prince Ruyang has considered having his son adopted. However, Prince Ruyang's heir is already twenty-two years old, only ten years younger than the Empress. How could he possibly adopt her as his son? Yet, for the sake of the throne, Prince Ruyang shamelessly and brazenly declared that he didn't care at all, leaving everyone speechless.

Since Zhang Songzhi entered the palace, the Empress, fearing that having children would delay state affairs, had been taking turns drinking contraceptive medicine with him. They had been doing this for ten years, and it seemed unlikely they would be able to conceive again. Therefore, the situation in the court was not optimistic. The Prince of Ruyang's faction, with its many sons, was eyeing the throne covetously. If it weren't for the Empress's iron-fisted approach, countless troubles would have already arisen.

The Empress tightened her grip on the man's hand, leaned closer to his embrace, and said softly, "I'm not wronged. I'm worried that you are. After all, if I hadn't taken you into the palace, Jiulang would have already been granted titles, honors, and high positions..."

"Your Majesty, Jiulang is truly not wronged..." The man's voice was somewhat urgent, and he tightened his arm around the Empress's shoulder: "Jiulang's greatest fortune in this life is being able to be with Your Majesty. As long as Your Majesty does not despise Jiulang, Jiulang is willing to stay with Your Majesty forever..."

"Really?" The Empress looked momentarily bewildered. "Ninth Prince, oh Ninth Prince, are you truly willing to give up everything to be merely my darling?"

It really couldn't be more real. The man screamed inwardly.

In his previous life, Zhang Songzhi, a brilliant and talented scholar who had ranked third in the imperial examinations, served as a powerful regent, second only to the emperor. He conquered the world but lost his beloved; their love turned to bitterness. During the struggle for the throne, the new king used a pretext to confiscate his property, exterminate his entire family, and execute him along with his nine generations of relatives, ultimately leaving him without a complete corpse. Therefore, reborn, the favored son of heaven, Zhang Jiulang, desires neither fame nor fortune, nor glory for his ancestors. He only wants to protect his woman and be the man behind her.

"Alright, Jiulang, I believe you..." After her initial confusion, the Empress's eyes softened again. Since Jiulang was willing to make a promise, then she would do as he said.

"Then what about the Prince of Ruyang's heir..." The man was still somewhat uneasy, but as soon as he spoke, he suddenly realized, "Ninth Prince misspoke; the harem must not interfere in politics..."

The Empress's slender fingers stopped the man from finishing his sentence: "It's alright, I understand what Jiulang means. Don't worry, I have my own plans..."

"Hmm." Taking the Empress's hand again, the man kissed it. "Then Jiulang will continue to assist Her Majesty in changing..."

"Alright, thank you for your hard work, Jiulang..." The Empress turned around and smiled, her beauty captivating and alluring.

The Magistrate's Court.

Not long after, Meng Luan, who remained in the capital, received a secret letter from the palace. Like Meng Yuan, Meng Luan was an orphan adopted by Mu Lian, and they were now working in the Court of Judicial Affairs, serving as Mu Lian's right-hand men.

Unlike Meng Yuan, who excels at disguise and tracking, Meng Luan is skilled at dealing with animals. Aside from the hawk that carries messages, she currently keeps a very intelligent little monkey at hand. Previously, when Mu Lian and Meng Yuan left the capital, the important task of pretending to be the Mu family's illegitimate daughter every few days was entrusted to this little monkey.

Despite its small size, the little monkey, under Meng Luan's tutelage, was quite adept at impersonating the Mu family's illegitimate daughter applying makeup in front of the mirror, fooling Master Mu several times when he suddenly felt a surge of paternal affection. Of course, this was also because Madam Mu had given orders, and Master Mu, fearing her tyrannical power, only greeted her from afar in the courtyard and never entered.

After combing the monkey's tangled fur, Meng Luan got up, stuffed the secret letter into a bamboo tube, and tied it to the eagle's talons. Patting the eagle's head, Meng Luan giggled, "Go..."

The eagle circled in the air, let out a cry as if in response, and then quickly disappeared into the horizon.

After bidding farewell to the eagle, Meng Luan resumed practicing her movements with the little monkey. Now that the head of the academy and Sister Yuan were not around, she had to guard the academy well.

A dilapidated temple.

According to the message sent back by Meng Yuan, the group of men in black who stole the fake imperial edict disappeared in the dilapidated temple.

Mu Lian raised her eyes and glanced at the steep mountain behind the dilapidated temple, and made up her mind.

"Someone, go and check if there's a secret passage..."

"yes."

Immediately, two soldiers carrying bronze shovels stepped forward. It is said that the soldiers of the judicial office, besides being skilled in interrogation, each possessed their own unique expertise. These two were said to be former tomb raiders, their forte being the exploration and excavation of graves.

After some tapping and searching, the two men excitedly reported, "Sir, there is indeed a secret passage under the Buddha's seat in the temple, and it seems to lead into the mountains..."

In the mountains? Mu Lian looked at the lush and precipitous mountain walls again, and a bold idea came to her mind.

Gunpowder? This time, Meng Yuan was taken aback: "Your Excellency, why not allow more people to continue exploring? That gunpowder is extremely lethal, I'm worried..."

Using his eyes to estimate the range of rocks that might be scattered after the gunpowder explosion, Mu Lian didn't turn around: "Time is of the essence; this is just a warning shot..."

Given the Empress's temperament, she would probably rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go free of these traitors who dared to steal secret edicts.